Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1887-02-28
Monday, February 2s, 1857.
THE ILLEGAL BOYCOTr.


The villainous boycott is fast coming un-
der the full condemnation of the law Two i'm
portant decisions against it were announced
Saturday-that of the Supreme court of Con-
necticut in the case brought by the Caring
ton Publishing Company, and that of Judge
Brown of the United States Circuit court in
the case brought by the Old Dominion Steam
ship Company.
No opinion has yet been made public in
the former case, but Judge Brown has very
plainly set forth the law. He points out
that after the plaintiffs workmen, through
the defendants procurement, had quit work,
the defendants for the further unlawful
purpose of compelling the plaintiff to pay
such a rate of wages they might demand,
declared boycott of the plaintiffs business
and attempted to prevent the plaintiff from
carrying on any business common carrier
or from using or employing its vessels, light
ers, ETC., in that business, and endeavored to
stop all the dealings of other pers ons with
the plaintiff by sending threatening notices
or messages to its various companies and
patrons and to the agents of various steam
ship lines and to wharingers and warehouse
uou OcdlluS WILL GLo oO-
signed to intimidate them from having any
dealings with it through threats of loss and
expense in case they dealt with the plaintiff
by receiving, storing or transmitting its
goods or otherwise; and various persons
were deferred from dealing with the plaintiff
in consequence of such intimidations, and
refused to perform existing contracts and
withheld their former customary business,
greatly to the plaintiffs damage. And he
declares that these acts were not only illegal,
rendering the defendant liable in damages,
but also misdemeanors at common law as
by section 1853 of the Penal code of the State
of New York.
Concerning the rights of associations he
says: Associations have no more right to
infiet injury upon others than individuals.
All combinations and associations designed
to coerce workmen to become members or to
interfere with, obstruct, vex or annoy them
in working or obtaining work because they
are not members, or in order to induce them
to become members; designed to prevent
employees from making just discrimination
between the wages paid to the skillful and
to the unskillful, to the diligent and to the
lazy; to the efficient and to the inefficient;
and all associations designed to interfere
with the perfect freedom of employers in the
proper management and control of their law
full business, or to dictate in any particular
the terms upon which their business shall be
conducted by means of threats of injary or
loss, by interference with their property Or
traffic, or with their lawful employment of
Al 4on nINrSsI 1OE
these rights, are illegal combinations or asso-
Citations; and all acts done in furtheranee of
such intentions by such means and aecompa-
MED by damage are actionable.
This is plain enough. and the labor organ
izations will do well to pay attention to it.
The cause of labor is not to be benefited by
lawlessness. That it could be has been one
of the gravest mistakes made by those who
have been active in labor agitation during
the Last YEAR